Hi-Crest youths treated to Doxazo camp

Southeast Topeka’s Highland Crest neighborhood suffered quite a blow this past spring when Avondale East Elementary school closed its doors for good.

The school, located at 455 S.E. Golf Park Blvd., had been open for 58 years and in many ways was a bright spot in an area beset by poverty and crime.

Though not taking the place of the school or the role it once played, volunteers from several Topeka churches this week are breathing new life into the building — and community — with a special four-day camp for neighborhood children.

The Doxazo camp runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Though about 100 children in elementary and middle school signed up, only about 45 youngsters were in attendance for the first day of the free camp Wednesday.

Still, leaders weren’t discouraged.

"We figure a lot of the kids were sleeping in the day after Christmas," said Cathy Ramshaw, a member of Fellowship Bible Church and an organizer of the camp. "I think we’ll see more as the week goes on."

Ramshaw said the camp was designed as a way of meeting needs in the Highland Crest neighborhood. She also said she was hopeful the camp would be the start of a long-lasting relationship between participating churches and neighborhood residents.

Ramshaw said the camp wasn’t about one specific congregation, and that several different churches supported the event, including coming up with fees to rent the former school building.

Volunteers came from congregations including Fellowship Bible Church, First Assembly of God, Lighthouse Bible Church, Topeka Bible Church and Town and Country Christian Church.

Among organizations lending a hand were Highland Park High School’s Step program, Glory Days Pizza, Safe Streets, Harvesters and the Kansas Discovery Center.

Dozens of volunteers, ranging in age from early teen to retiree, gave up part of their Christmas vacation to help.

"I’ve been amazed at the outpouring of support," Ramshaw said. "If you tell people what you need, they are really happy to come and meet that need."

Based on past observations, Ramshaw said she was convinced churches need to step in and fill voids in their own communities.

To do that, she said, congregations need to develop a comfort level with the people they serve, something the Doxazo camp was designed to do.

Children attending the camp were treated to breakfast and lunch before breaking into smaller groups to play games such as dodgeball and basketball in the Avondale East gym.

Humorous skits and talks by speakers, such as YoungLife’s Kyle Brown on Wednesday, were other highlights of the daily schedule.

Young people in the camp also were encouraged to take part in service projects each day in their own community.

Despite temperatures in the lower 20s Wednesday, volunteers and neighborhood children took plates of homemade cookies to homes in the Avondale East vicinity. They also cleaned up trash in Betty Phillips Park.

Effie Perkins, 69, of 3125 S.E. Fremont, was surprised when two youths and a volunteer leader knocked on her door to deliver a plate of homemade cookies about noon Wednesday.

The youths wished Perkins a happy new year as they left.

"They’re out here in all this cold air," Perkins said as the group walked down the street. "God bless their little hearts."

Many of the volunteers were college-age students, some coming from as far away as Houston and the Kansas City area.

Volunteer Kayla Cook, 19, a University of Kansas student from Topeka, said she wanted to do something to help others during her month away from classes.

"I just like serving the kids and serving complete strangers and loving on ‘em," Cook said. "It’s been fun."

The word "Doxazo" comes from the Greek language and means "to glorify."

Jeremy Wynne, an organizer of a summer Doxazo sports camp for boys in Topeka, said he is hoping to bring back a similar event to the Highland Crest area this summer.

"We don’t want this to be an end-all," he said. "We want this to be the start of us being in the community."

Wynne said the camp is "unapologetic" about sharing the gospel with children. But first, he said, leaders must "gain the right to be heard," something he said happens during games and service activities, as children and adult volunteers interact.

Wynne said another emphasis of the camp is for leaders to demonstrate what it means to serve others, something he hopes the youngsters will pick up on and practice in their own lives.

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